Out Loud

My dear Kaléo family,

Well, I’m just going to pretend like this is one of those great chapels after reading break or Christmas break or the mission trips when we all sat together and shared stories of the happenings of our lives and the great things that God has been doing. Over the past few weeks I have often thought of writing a post, but have evidently continued to be silent on the blog, thinking of everything I want to tell you guys in my head but failing to express it… haha, it’s like in chapel when Jim would ask us a question or want us to share or pray and there would be those first few silent moments when many of us had something we could share, but just continued to sit there. That’s me and the lack of blog posts. But I have just remembered Jim’s famous words: “out loud.” :) Oh. Right.

My time since being home has been different than I expected in several ways. First, it took far longer than I had hoped to get a job… about four weeks and nearly 40 resumes/applications. It was pretty discouraging at times, as I knew the summer was short and I desperately need the money for school in the fall. However, the Lord had a plan even in this. Because I wasn’t working yet, I was able to go on a short spontaneous trip to Medicine Hat with my older brother to pick up the rest of his things from his apartment. I was able to have a most delightful dinner with Joce and Lynnea, which was SUCH a blessing. Also, my cousin Kathleen from Edmonton came back with us and spent a few days here, which I desperately needed, as “hanging out with friends” has become nearly a foreign concept to me here at home. And, in His perfect timing, the Lord was faithful to provide work for me. I began a week and a half ago at Mark’s Work Wearhouse here in Vernon. I really enjoy the job- and, praise the Lord, my manager is a strong believer in Christ! There are three of us who are Christians at work- so we’re praying for the other twelve! Due to Mark’s being part-time, I am looking for a full-time job to add on top so I can save up more money for school. I’ve been reading through James the last couple of weeks and the Lord placed James 2:18 as a sort of theme verse for me at work: “I will show you my faith by what I do.” I want to work as unto the Lord, even in retail… and I pray that people will see Christ in me. Already, I’ve received a lot of comments about people seeing something different in me- I just pray that, through conversations and my actions, their eyes will be pointed towards Christ.

Friends-wise, things have been difficult. As someone who was homeschooled and attends a small church, I really had one core group of friends here in Vernon. There were four of us from church who would hang out almost every Sunday together and often during the week as well. My parents considered all three of them an adopted part of our family. However, due to a girlfriend, Bible school, and other circumstances, I don’t have that (though, praise the Lord, Sandra comes home today from Bible school and will be home for a couple of weeks before heading off to camp for the entire summer). I haven’t checked out any young adults Bible study groups yet, which is entirely my fault. It’s hard, as I have no connections with other churches and know that I may not be able to commit to another evening thing if I am working two jobs.

I’ve been attending/helping lead our very small youth group (eesh. That reminds me- I need to plan tomorrow night’s event!). This is really the only “social” thing outside of work I do all week. Pretty pathetic, I know. And everyone there is in grade 11 or younger. Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to/made the effort to do the mentoring outside of youth that I was hoping to do; hopefully that will happen soon.

Even in all of this, the Lord has blessed me in an incredible way: He has given me an amazing family that I love to spend time with. As Meghan pointed out to me in a recent phone call when I was complaining about my severe lack of community, my family is my community. Honestly, I am so blessed. I hoped coming home for the summer that I would build deeper relationships with my family and this is happening. I’ve been able to have long theological discussions with my daddy or go sit on his lap (yeah… I still do that) after work and tell him about my day. I’ve been able to cook and pray with my mom and I just love talking to her about what’s going on. I’ve been able to go on walks and out for breakfast and on a road trip with my older brother. My younger brother and I have made it a habit of going on walks together when we both have time – this is our “deep brother-sister talk” time. We’ve also been able to sing and play piano/guitar together. Whenever I get discouraged about how I literally have no life outside of my home, I praise the Lord that I have my family inside my home. I love them so much.

I want to leave you guys with some verses from Hebrews: “Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess for He who promised is faithful. Let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another – and all the more as you see the Day approaching.” Pursue Christ, my Kaléo family. I’ve been experiencing too how tough that can be at home. And I know it’s a struggle to hold onto what we’ve learned this past year rather than slipping back into old habits and mindsets. It’s a battle raging. Christ is the giver of strength and life. We desperately need to pursue Him. And… as a family, we need to be like Moses’ friends and hold one another’s arms up when they are too weary to fight.

So, my dear brothers and sisters, I have to apologize for not being very good at keeping in touch. I regularly check the blog…haha, maybe too regularly. And I do read all of what’s been going on in your lives and, as I read, I share in the joys and tears and frustrations you have experienced since being home. Kaleos, I do miss you dearly. Thank you for being more faithful than me at updating us on life! And for those of you who, like me, feel like you don’t really have anything too amazing or important to share… SHARE! Write a blog post. Although you may feel like what you have to say isn’t important and nobody cares, we most definitely do… so… if you have some time right now, start writing:)

I love you all!